While such deep thinkers as Susan Sarandon and Roger Waters denounce tiny Israel, for daring to defend itself so fiercely against the Hamas murderers, the noted German philosopher Jurgen Habermas has come out foursquare for the Jewish state’s military response. Among the thinking classes, his words carry weight. More on Habermas’ statement on Israel, Hamas, Germany, and antisemitism, can be found here: “Leading German Philosopher Jürgen Habermas Declares Support for Israel, Opposition to Resurgent Antisemitism,” by Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, November 15, 2023:
One of Germany’s most storied political theorists has issued a statement supporting Israel’s military response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, decrying as well the surge of antisemitism in Germany during the intervening period.
The current situation, created by the cruel attack by Hamas and Israel’s response to it, has led to a cascade of moral and political statements and demonstrations,” Jürgen Habermas observed in the statement published on Monday on the website “Normative Orders,” which is devoted to philosophy and social theory. As well as Habermas, the scholars Nicole Deitelhoff, Rainer Forst, and Klaus Guenther all endorsed the statement.
“We believe that with all the conflicting views that are expressed, there are some principles that should not be disputed. They underlie the well-understood solidarity with Israel and Jews in Germany,” the statement continued….
The statement also urged Israel to observe the “principles of proportionality” in its response. However, the authors were in no doubt that the Hamas pogrom was carried out “with the declared intention of eliminating Jewish life in general,” adding: “Despite all the concern for the fate of the Palestinian population, however, the standards of judgment slip completely when genocidal intentions are attributed to Israel’s actions.”
The statement emphasized that “Israel’s actions in no way justify antisemitic reactions, especially not in Germany. It is intolerable that Jews in Germany are once again exposed to threats to life and limb and have to fear physical violence on the streets.” Postwar Germany’s commitment to preserving both Jewish life and a secure existence for the State of Israel “is fundamental to our political life,” the statement asserted.
Commenting on the statement, the Italian columnist Ricardo Canaletti said that it was “difficult to overestimate Jürgen Habermas’ contribution to contemporary thought.”…
Canaletti noted that when “Habermas claims that the Federal Republic of Germany is also based on respect for the integrity of a state of Israel, he is saying something that in Italy, in a month of war, we haven’t heard yet.” He argued that Italy, like Germany, needed to base its postwar existence as a democratic republic on an awareness of its fascist period, which involved “racial laws, the hunt for Jews, and the political alliance with the Third Reich.”
Canaletti reminds his readers that Italy too had its infamous “leggi razziali” (Racial Laws), its own history of persecution and murder of Jews during the Fascist period, when Jews were rounded up and sent to death camps in Poland, and yet this part of Fascist Italy’s history is often overlooked by Italians themselves, who identify murderous antisemitism only with the Nazis. Canaletti thinks that if they were made keenly aware of such events, they would place the defense of Israel among their government’s highest priorities.
In Germany, Habermas’ statement on Israel, his insistence that Israel must be supported, and that its military response has in his view been proportionate, will mean a great deal to the thinking classes.
Ray Jarman says
Maybe there is hope in Europe after all. There is still more required from the allegedly educated European aristocracy if the anti-Semitic incidents and attitudes are tabled permanently. In America it will take decades to reverse the influence of the likes of Noam Chomsky as this antisemitism did not occur over night. It has been in the making for decades.
bill says
Waters is a renowned anti semite so nothing is expected of him and people should shun his concerts, Of course many people do not care about anything but themselves and their own pleasures. Sarandon has been a left wing fool for decades I stopped watching any thing featuring her face long ago
John Pepple says
The worry here is that Habermas is old and doesn’t necessarily represent Europe’s future.
Ben says
Israel is still being too soft on hamas and their support base in Gaza. They should take an example of how the Russians dealt with the Chechnen terrorists and their base in Grozny during the second Chechnyan war.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Precisely. They should follow Russia’s example not just in Chechnya but Ukraine as well. In fact, they should call the Russian ambassador and tell him that they’re using Russia as a model for how to deal w/ Gaza
commonsense says
+1
Goofy says
Hear, hear! That’s what we need!
Mike says
To this day I am proud to have never liked Pink Floyd at all. Idiots like Roger Waters are a sign of the brain disease of western countries. They forgot their values completely that were based on Christian faith that led to the respect of the individual value of human life. That is something that does not count in Islam as well as in socialism. And since universities are infested by neo Marxism entirely, the values of a whole generation are completely perverted. Insofar it surprised me a lot that a successor of the Frankfurt school of philosophers found clear words in this matter. And I appreciate it a lot. At least a few that have not become brainwashed.
Rick Olsha says
Tell everyone one thing : AM YISRAEL CHAI VEKAYAM !!!!
Nick says
How is Roger waters a deep thinker. He is an idiot
John Pepple says
That was sarcasm.